Week in Review

The political left has long wanted national health care in the United States. And often point to Canada and their health care system. For the left does not believe that anyone should be denied their right to medical care. Or that anyone should profit off of the medical misfortunes of others. So everybody gets free medical care. While no one is allowed to profit from the giving of that care. A noble idea. But a flawed idea. For being a doctor or a nurse is not easy. It requires years of education. Further years of on the job training. Enormous school loan debt. And long and stressful working days. Not everyone can do it. Which is why we pay those who do well. Unless you have national health care. Which leads to doctor and nurse shortages because they don’t pay their doctors and nurses as well as they do in a private health care system (see Ad aims to lure Quebec doctors to Ontario, targeting values posted 9/12/2013 on CBC News).

An Ontario hospital is trying to lure Quebec-trained health-care workers by tapping into the controversy surrounding Quebec’s values charter.

Lakeridge Health is planning to run the ad, which features a woman wearing a headscarf, in a McGill University student newspaper.

Empey said the hospital is in need of qualified medical staff and they chose to target the ad at McGill students because they have a strong medical program…

Quebec’s proposed secular values charter, announced earlier this week by the Parti Québécois government, includes a provision that would prohibit public employees from wearing obvious religious symbols while performing their official duties.

That includes the wearing of kippas, turbans, burkas, hijabs and “large” crosses by civil servants while they are on the job.

There isn’t a whole lot of love between French Canada and English Canada. Personally I love both Canadas. I spent a lot of time in both and the people couldn’t have been nicer to me. It’s just each other they have a problem with. I won’t go into details about that as it is not necessary to make a point. That point being that English Canada is trying to lure French Canada to come and be doctors and nurses in their hospitals because there is a doctor and nurse shortage. This despite the fact they don’t love each other. Which shows how bad that shortage is.

It is admirable that English Canada is offering these French Canadians a place to work without having to suspend their religious principles. But note one thing English Canada is NOT doing. Offering these doctors and nurses more money. Because they just can’t afford to. So they hope to exploit Quebec’s new secular values charter to cure a problem common to national health care. Doctor and nurse shortages. But if Ontario reduces their shortage it will only increase the shortage in Quebec. For national health care is a zero-sum game. For someone to win someone must lose. As there are a finite number of doctors and nurses in Canada.

This is what Obamacare will do for the American health care system. Create doctor and nurse shortages. Because Obamacare is going to fix the high cost of health care by paying doctors and nurses less. Because no one should profit from the medical misfortunes of others. But it is okay for patients to wait longer to see a doctor. Apparently.

Week in Review

The U.S. Constitution prevented the new federal government from interfering with a state’s religious policy. It did not create a wall between church and state. It created a wall between the federal government and the states. And on the states’ side of that wall they could do anything they wanted religiously. Establish a state religion. Or keep the established religion they had. If the Catholics wanted to gather in Maryland and establish a Catholic state church they had that right. And if there were Calvinists looking for a state to live in they could choose to settle in Calvinist Massachusetts. With John Adams and his family. If Quakers arrived in the New World they could move on to Pennsylvania where the Quakers were settling. The Baptists could head to Virginia.

America was settled by religious people escaping religious persecution in Great Britain. Which was Protestant. And anti-Catholic. They also didn’t care too much for the Protestant Calvinists. Who they derisively called Puritans. Yes, those Puritans who sailed on the Mayflower. The people John Adams called neighbor. Only a century earlier civil war tore England apart. Resulting from a long and contentious history. Pitting Catholics against Protestants. Which the Protestants won. But it left bitter resentment throughout the country. Which is why a lot of people left the country. For a new start. And the freedom to worship in peace. Free from harassment.

So both the UK and the USA have deep roots in Christianity. And despite all of the blood spilled in the name of religion, that same religion helped to make the UK and the USA the great nations they became. Based on Judeo-Christian values. Where the governments and the people were deeply religious. And even the non-practicing Christians and borderline atheists were steeped in these Judeo-Christian values. Benjamin Franklin. George Washington. And Thomas Jefferson. Who may have been an atheist but thought Jesus Christ was the greatest philosopher of all time. Even made his own New Testament by cutting out the God parts. It was these Judeo-Christian values that made great men. It’s what made the Founding Fathers different from other men. And how they were able to create a country that favored the people. Not the ruling class. Which they would most certainly have been part of. But these were selfless men. They did not do things for personal gain. Something unheard of in those days when it came to governing a nation. But they did. Because of their religion. And their British customs and traditions. So it’s sad to see these attacks on Christianity in the USA. Even more sad to see them in the UK (see Queen stands up for Christianity: ‘Church of England is misunderstood and under-appreciated’ by Rebecca English posted 2/16/2012 on the Daily Mail).

And she emphasised that while the Church, of which she is head, was ‘woven into the fabric of this country’ it also had a ‘duty’ to protect freedom of worship for other faiths in order to build ‘a better society’…

It is particularly timely given last week’s landmark legal ruling banning the saying of prayers at council meetings.

Christians and politicians reacted with dismay after a judge overturned centuries of custom by stopping a council in Devon putting prayers on the formal agenda.

On the same day, two Christian guesthouse owners failed in an attempt to overturn a £3,600 fine imposed for refusing – because it was against their religious beliefs – to allow a gay couple to occupy a double room.

These and other developments, including recent cases of public sector workers being banned from displaying Christian symbols at work, have sparked a debate over whether the country is becoming too secularised and what effect this will have on society…

‘Faith plays a key role in the identity of millions of people, providing not only a system of belief but also a sense of belonging. It can act as a spur for social action. Indeed, religious groups have a proud track record of helping those in the greatest need.’

The Church of England is such a big part of the history of the United Kingdom. It was critical during the Enlightenment. For it questioned Catholic dogma. And a Pope that was only recently selling indulgences to finance some nice Renaissance art. So there’s no question that politics was creeping into the Catholic Church. Which is what Henry VIII did not want. A distant central power interfering with state affairs. Well, that, and a divorce. So Henry VIII created his own church. Lost some of the Catholic dogma. Some of the politics. But kept the Judeo-Christian values. And Britain became great.

Agricultural advances, representative government, economic theory, technological advances – these all flourished in England. Why? Critical thinking. The rule of law. And Judeo-Christian values. The customs and traditions that are woven into the fabric of the United Kingdom. And they should all remain woven in the fabric. Because customs and traditions define who a people are. And it’s absurd to think that you can remove customs and traditions just because they are Judeo-Christian. When we are bending over backwards to accommodate every custom and tradition that isn’t Judeo-Christian in our multicultural world.

The Islamist Muslim Brotherhood Ascendant in Egypt

The death toll in Syria has exceeded 500. But we’re not calling for Assad to step down. And we’re not bombing Syria. Even though Syria is very friendly with Iran. And supports Hezbollah and Hamas. No. We’re acting cautiously with Syria. Because Assad is a man the Obama administration is banking on to reform Syria. He’s the moderate. Friend of the Christian community in Syria. Holding the Muslim Brotherhood and their Islamism at bay. Because Iran is bad. Hezbollah is bad. Hamas is bad. And the Muslim Brotherhood is especially bad. So we’re going to tread lightly in Syria.

The Muslim Brotherhood said on Saturday it will contest up to half of Egypt’s parliamentary seats in elections scheduled for September.

But the group said it will not field a candidate for the position of president in an election due to held after the parliamentary vote.

The Muslim Brotherhood was no secret in Egypt. Or their ties to Iran and Hamas. But the Muslim Brotherhood wasn’t involved with the democracy protests. Sure, they were the only organized, albeit illegal, opposition party. But that was nothing to worry about. Because this was an outpouring of young people and their yearning for democracy. Much like those young people who yearned in Iran in 1979.

The Muslim Brotherhood is regarded as the most organized political force in Egypt after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in February and the dissolution of his National Democratic Party…

The Brotherhood is an Islamist group founded in the 1920s and has deep roots in Egypt’s conservative Muslim society.

So what is there to worry about? This spontaneous yearning for democracy by the young will no doubt triumph. Unlike a well organized movement that goes back to 1920. And that has deep roots in Egypt’s conservative Muslim society. There is no reason that the Egypt revolution will be just like the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Just because it parallels the Iranian Revolution doesn’t mean it will end up like the Iranian Revolution. In theocracy.

The Islamist Muslim Brotherhood denies being Islamist

As if to assuage this very concern, the Muslim Brotherhood is telling their critics that their Islamist party is not a theocratic one. That they will gladly cooperate with the secular powers (see Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood sets up new party posted 4/30/2011 on the BBC).

It has sought to allay fears of an Islamist parliamentary majority, and said it would be willing to co-operate with secular parties.

Mohammed al-Mursi, the head of the new Freedom and Justice Party, told reporters in Cairo: “It is not an Islamist party in the old understanding, it is not theocratic.”

Just like Ayatollah Khomeini assured the young revolutionaries in Iran not to worry. Their government would be a secular government. And it was. Until it became a theocratic one. You see, he lied. He told everyone what they wanted to hear. All the while making Iran a theocracy.

But that won’t happen in Egypt. Because the people who want to turn Egypt into a theocracy are telling us they don’t want to turn Egypt into a theocracy. So there’s nothing to worry about.

Egypt Reopens Gaza Border Crossing, Hamas Cheers

Or is there? The Muslim Brotherhood is not exactly what one would call fans of the state of Israel. No. They would fall more into the anti-Israel camp. Like Iran. And Hamas. With Gaza bordering both Israel and Egypt, and with Hamas in power in Gaza, what happens in Gaza vis-à-vis Egypt would be a good indicator of things to come. So let’s take a look at what’s happening in Gaza (see Egypt intends to reopen Gaza crossing by Michael Birnbaum posted 4/29/2011 on The Washington Post).

Egypt plans to reopen a border crossing with the Gaza Strip as soon as possible, a spokeswoman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said Friday, worrying Israel and bringing an end to a blockade of the territory that had been deeply unpopular inside Egypt…

Access to Gaza from Egypt had been severely restricted at Israel’s request after the Islamic movement Hamas took control of the territory in 2007. Israel and the United States consider Hamas a terrorist organization, and Israel imposed a blockade on the territory because officials said they were concerned about weapons and explosives being transported across the border.

If one didn’t know any better, one would think that Egypt may be moving away from Israel and towards Iran/Hamas. Because their action will help weapons get into Gaza where Hamas can fire them on Israel. Which is sort of their thing. Launching weapons into Israel. So maybe there’s something to worry about here with this new Egyptian direction.

Egypt has moved in recent days to bolster its relationship with Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was banned in Egypt during Mubarak’s reign. The change reflected popular sentiment and helped Egyptian diplomats broker a deal this week between Fatah and Hamas that will unify the two main factions in the Palestinian territories. Egyptian diplomats have also announced their intention to increase ties with Iran.

Okay, so they’re throwing open the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. They’re improving relations with Hamas. And Iran. I think we’re past ‘maybe’. I think it may be time for someone to start worrying. For despite all of their denials about their theocratic intentions, their actions speak louder than their words. It’s beginning to look a lot like Poland in 1939. A country surrounded. Flanks secured. Good propaganda. And a burning desire to launch a war of annihilation. I’d be surprised if Israel wasn’t worried.

Israel isn’t Feeling the Love

Oh, come on, you say. That’s just ridiculous. The Palestinians are just a peace loving people. And Hamas is just a political party. Comparing them to Nazi Germany is a bit extreme to say the least. Besides, what have they ever done to suggest that they want to annihilate the state of Israel (see Barak to UN chief: Hamas must recognize Israel by Haaretz Service and Reuters posted 4/30/2011 on Haaretz)?

Defense Minister Ehud Barak spoke with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday and expressed concerns about the unity agreement that was recently reached between Fatah and Hamas.

“Hamas is a terrorist organization that fires rockets at Israeli towns and recently used an anti-tank missile against a school bus,” Barak said.

“Therefore, we expect that world leaders, including, of course, the head of the UN, to make cooperation with such a joint government, if it is established, conditional on the government accepting the Quartet’s conditions, which are the recognition of Israel, the abandonment of the path of terror and the acceptance of all previous agreements with Israel,” Barak continued.

Well, yeah, there’s all of that. A long history of violence towards Israel. And the refusal to recognize them as a sovereign state. But other than that, what has Hamas ever done to suggest that they want to annihilate Israel?

One thing for sure, Israel isn’t feeling the love these days.

Democracy Losing in Egypt

Democracy may lose in Egypt. Just as it did in Iran following the 1979 Revolution. Which will empower Hamas. And that open border crossing between Egypt and Gaza will greatly help Hamas in their struggle against Israel. With an able assist from the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Pity we didn’t think this through better before saying Mubarak had to go.

Things are so bad with an ascendant Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt that we’re backing off on the crimes against humanity in Syria. There the price of innocent civilians killed is an acceptable cost to keep the Muslim Brotherhood at bay. But not in Egypt. And Mubarak didn’t even set the army on his people. But he had to go. No ifs, ands or buts about it. But Assad is okay. He just needs to tone it down a little. Kill a few less people.

All the while Israel sits and waits. Their world is changing. And there’s little they can do about it. They hope for the best. And no doubt plan for the worse. Like in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War. When the tide of war was going against them and defeat looked imminent. They had suffered great losses and desperately needed U.S. aid. Which was not forthcoming. So Israel began preparing some nuclear weapons to stave off defeat. This got the attention of the U.S. Who replaced Israeli’s material losses. Which kept them in the war. Kept them from going nuclear. And allowed them to win a favorable peace. And the Arab world has hated the U.S. ever since.

So much hatred in the Middle East. And so many old scores to settle. It’ll probably get worse before it gets better. And all I can say is that I’d sure hate to be in our shoes.

DID THE FOUNDING Fathers found America as a Christian nation? No. Did they found a secular nation? Not exactly. Did they found a federal nation? Yes.

Federalism. What does it mean? It means the new federal government would have LIMITED powers. The new national government would do national things. Trade. National defense. Treat with other nations. In other words, those things that required a single national voice. The French didn’t want to treat with the individual states. They didn’t want one set of trade agreements for Virginia and another for North Carolina. Neither did Great Britain. Or the other European powers. No. If the United States of America wanted to be an independent nation, then they had to act as a single, unified nation. So they did.

The other things, the non-national things, they left to the states. And one of these things was religion. For when it came to religion, the new federal government did not interfere in the states’ religious business. Ergo the First Amendment. The ‘wall’ between church and state was to separate the new federal government from the states’ religious establishments. If a state discriminated against all but their established religion, that was fine and dandy for it was a moot point as far as the federal government was concerned. It just wasn’t their business.

Now, a truly secular government would intervene in such a case. The federal government would later, but at the founding, one of the preconditions for ratification of the Constitution was that it wouldn’t. And it didn’t. Interfere with a state’s religion.

WE ALL KNOW the story of the Pilgrims, the Puritans, coming to the New World from England to escape religious persecution. Probably not as familiar with the backstory. The English Civil War. Duke of Buckingham. King and Parliament. Queen and Parliament. The French. The Spanish. The Pope. The Kirk. The Ulster Uprising. Oliver Cromwell. And, of course, William Laud.

Here’s the short version of what happened. And some back-story to the back-story. The Protestant Reformation split the Catholic Church. Much fighting ensued. This split nations into essentially Catholic and Protestant camps (which broke down into further divisions). England was Protestant. Scotland was Presbyterian (a branch of Protestantism). Ireland was Catholic with a Protestant enclave in Ulster.

Mix them together, add a not great English king, who married a French Catholic, throw in a revised Church of England prayer book, bring back some Catholicism to the Protestant Church of England, dissolve Parliament, recall Parliament, try to dissolve it again and, well, you get civil war. Parliament wins the war. They behead the king.

The English Civil War is a little more complicated than this. But for our purposes, it’s the religious component that’s important. Everyone persecuted someone at one time. One group, the Puritans, were Protestants. Hardcore Protestants. Calvinists. They were about as anti-Catholic as you could get. Didn’t like any of the Catholics’ fancy vestments, icons, statues, pictures, altar rails, candlesticks, stained glass windows, etc. That church was corrupt. They had lost their way.

They didn’t believe in original sin or that you can buy your way into heaven. God chose your fate before you were born. If you were one of the elect, you passed your days in long church services and you read the Bible. If you didn’t do these things it was proof you weren’t one of the elect. And were damned. No matter what you did during your life. Cure cancer, it didn’t matter. You were damned.

They didn’t like Catholics and Catholics didn’t like them. And, as it turned out, the Protestant powers that be didn’t much care for them either. In England or on the Continent. They just couldn’t be un-Catholic enough to please the Puritans. Much bitterness ensued. Many left the Old World and settled in the New World. Like the Israelites fleeing Egypt, these Puritans came to the New World to establish that city on a hill of Mathew 5:14 fame (from the Sermon on the Mount. Given by Jesus Christ. Just in case you’re unfamiliar with it).

THEY CAME FROM England, Scotland, the Netherlands, France and settled in New England, New York and the far side of the Appalachians. A hard working people. They provided for themselves. Went to church. Read the Bible. All work and no play. At least, some would say.

They established the state-supported Congregational Church in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. John Adams was born and raised a Calvinist and attended this state-supported church. When writing the new state’s constitution, the state support of the church was a contentious issue. Most felt that religion was an indispensible part of life. Others agreed but feared a religious majority would oppress a religious minority. The process would take 3 years to resolve.

Being in the heart of the rebellion, Abigail Adams, Founding Mother, and perhaps America’s first feminist, experienced much of the darker side of the struggle for independence. Soulmate of John Adams in every sense of the word, she was as religious as he. As the war dragged on with no end in sight, she feared it was God’s punishment for the sins of American slavery.

IN VIRGINIA, THE established church was the Anglican Church (i.e., the Church of England). As in Massachusetts, there was debate about an established majority religion oppressing a minority religion. For good reason. It did. Right in James Madison’s backyard. Baptists were harassed. And imprisoned. You needed a license to preach. Virginia and the established church made getting that license very difficult. If you were a Baptist.

America’s least religious Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson, wrote the Virginian Statute for Religious Freedom. The Virginian General Assembly passed it in 1786, two years before the states ratified the U.S. Constitution. To help get the Virginian Baptists on board for ratification, James Madison, the father of the Constitution, promised to add a Bill of Rights after ratification that would add similar rights and protection at the federal level that were enacted at the state level.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MAY have been a Deist. He was, after all, the embodiment of the Enlightenment. Like Thomas Jefferson. They embraced reason over dogma. But Franklin believed religious faith was fundamental to civilized society. His personal beliefs boiled down to simply doing good deeds. Help others. And sometimes you need to remind some people to help others. And that’s why he liked religion. He spent much of his life helping his community (serving in the state militia, participating in the volunteer fire department, etc.). At an impasse at the Constitutional Convention, it was he who suggested they should pray.

GEORGE WASHINGTON MAY not have taken communion, but he added chaplains to his army units during the American Revolution. He believed the American cause was a divine one. He feared a lack of faith may determine battlefield outcomes. He led an integrated army of Protestants and Catholics. And Jews. And blacks. And others. He forbade anti-Catholic demonstrations which were very common in the former British colonies. When an Army went to Canada to attack the British, they were to respect the Catholic French Canadians and invite them to join their cause. He would even attend Catholic service on occasion. Like the army, the nation he would lead would be a melting pot. Tolerance and respect was the mantra. For all Americans.

SO, DID THE Founding Fathers found a Christian nation? No. Religious establishment was simply beyond the responsibility of the new federal government. Did Christians settle the original colonies? Yes. And they established Christian churches. And the states were worried that a new federal government would interfere with their religious business. Some wanted additional safeguards written in. So James Madison added the Bill of Rights after ratification. The First Amendment placed a wall between the federal government and the States’ religious establishments.

In time, the states extended the tolerance and respect of religious diversity prevalent in Washington’s army to their states. They disestablished their established churches. And, to their relief, religion flourished. Especially the different branches of Christianity. Yes, America became even more Christian, but it tolerated and respected other religions. New York even had a Jewish Temple 3 years after the British surrender at Yorktown. And even the Catholics were welcomed in the new nation.

DISESTABLISHMENTARIANISM INCREASED THE spread of Christianity. Like the economy, the freer it was the more it flourished. And with the great number of Christian religions that have since spread across the nation, it is unlikely that overt acts of Christianity would result in the establishment of one of these. Or the reestablishment of the Church of England.

So go ahead and display your Christmas Crèche or the Ten Commandments. Chances are good that it won’t beget antidisestablishmentarianism.